The Library of Congress in Washington D.C. doesn't just have over 33 million books; it also has 12 million photographs, millions of maps, sheet music, and other manuscripts. Its holdings make it largest library in the world; and having been founded in 1800, it is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/2/10

Many U.S. Presidents have been college educated, and the college with the most alumni in the Oval Office is Harvard, but of the 43 men to have served as president, eight never went to college: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Grover Cleveland (who was both the 22nd and 24th president). - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/3/10

Experts estimate that as many as 1.7 million people who enter U.S. hospitals each year end up contracting an avoidable and unnecessary infection during their hospital stay, and that 99,000 of them will die from those infections. A good percentage of these infections occur because of mishandling of so-called central lines -- IV's and ports that are used to get drugs and medications into the patient and often remain there for days or weeks at a time. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/4/10

According to a recent Gallup poll three years in the making, 700 million people worldwide, or about 16% of the world's population would, if given the chance, leave their own country and move permanently to another one. A move to a country in Europe was the most popular choice among those polled (210 million), followed by America (165 million) and Canada (45 million). - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/5/10

The highest-rated single TV show in history was the last episode of M*A*S*H, seen by 60.2% of TV-owning households, then about 50 million households. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/6/10

In May 2010, there were 154.6 million people 16 and older in the nation's labor force. - Provided by U. S. Census Bureau

9/7/10

British officials denied Canada's initial request to be designated a 'kingdom' because they feared it would anger the United States. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/8/10

Minnesota's prison population increased by 59.7 percent between 2000 and 2008. - Provided by The World Almanac 2010

"Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers took control of four commercial airliners en route to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Boston, Newark, and Washington, D.C. At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower, followed by United Airlines Flight 175 which hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. The death toll of the attacks was about 3,000, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights." - Provided by Wikipedia

9/12/10

According to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, Shakespeare wrote about one-tenth of the most quotable quotations ever written or spoken in English. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/13/10

The largest fish caught with a rod and reel was a Great White shark. It weighed 2,664 pounds and was almost 17 feet long. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

A pair of shoes made of shark leather can last four times longer than shoes made with regular leather. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/16/10

Approximately 14% of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women. In 1950, women comprised less than 2% of the U.S. military. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/17/10

About 14 million adolescent girls become pregnant each year, with over 90% of those girls living in developing countries. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/18/10

There are no active volcanoes in Australia because it sits in the middle of a tectonic plate. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/19/10

Based on the average life of a G2 star such as the sun, its present age estimated to be 4.6 billion years, halfway through its lifetime. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/20/10

The most recent eruption in the continental United States was Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980. The eruption had 500 times the power of an atomic bomb. Geologists considered this a moderate eruption. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/21/10

The most popular performed plastic surgery procedure is Botox, which is a protein derived from the botulism toxin. It is injected into the skin to paralyze facial muscles, giving the recipient a smooth facial appearance. The effects of the procedure typically wear off after three to six months. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/22/10

While many stars and moons are christened with female names, Venus is the only planet in our solar system given the name of a female goddess. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/23/10

The English are sometimes called 'limeys' because British sailors would eat limes to stave off scurvy. Limes were later replaced by lemons due to the lack of adequate vitamin C in lime juice. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/24/10

California, New York, and Florida lead the United States in wine consumption. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

Voter participation in presidential elections has fallen in the last four decades from an average of nearly 62% of registered voters participating in 1960s elections to an average of just over 54% for the 2000s elections. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/27/10

In the 1984 presidential election, Ronald Reagan received both the highest number of popular votes (54,455,075) and the highest number of electoral votes (525) in the history of U.S. presidential elections. These numbers have yet to be surpassed by another presidential candidate. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/28/10

Florida did not become part of the United States until Spain surrendered it in a treaty in 1819; it formally became a state in 1845.- Provided by The World Almanac 2010

9/29/10

A crop of newly planted grape vines takes four to five years to grow before it can be harvested. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

9/30/10

The sun contains 99.85% of the mass in the solar system. - Provided by RandomHistory.com